Although finishing university should be a joyful moment, many of us remain uncertain about the future. Job prospects are dismal, the economy is weak and your education didn’t prepare you for the workforce — the explanations are numerous.

We need to examine why this is the case. One would think that with a quality education, quality jobs should follow. So how do we explain the current economic downturn for new university graduates? The correct answer is most likely the simplest: your education has not been a quality one.

Over the course of your years at the University of Saskatchewan, students — especially arts students — have been bombarded by the notion that university helps us develop so-called “critical thinking skills.”

These skills, however, were obviously not instilled within the previous generations who helped create the university-industry, an industry that relies on importing more and more students — regardless of ability — every single year.

This over-saturation of university enrollment has meant that our education system functions like a conveyor belt, constantly churning out more and more degrees that focus on increasingly esoteric and unusual subjects, despite changing societal demands. Supply has gone up and demand has gone down and the bachelor’s degree now holds the same value that a high school diploma did just 30 years ago.

This has resulted in many students prolonging their university careers, as they reluctantly enroll in master’s degree programs that serve as a second line of defence against adulthood. This is part of the problem.

At one point in time, having a university degree meant that you could read Greek and Latin and be well-versed in all the classic texts of Western civilization. By the end of your experience, you would be cultured — truly educated — and, therefore, employers sought out new graduates, because a degree represented incredible commitment and knowledge.

Now, a university degree — especially an arts one — represents little more than incoming employment insurance recipient.

This devaluation of our education can be attributed to our secondary schools ushering in a stampede of students through the Memorial Gates, many of whom are unequipped for the academic rigour that a post-secondary education entails.

Allured by the prospect of being “university educated” and deterred by the stigma of trade school, many students were steered away from promising careers that would better suit their natural inclinations. This has negatively affected university standards and, consequently, a generation of young people.

Guaranteed student loans have prompted universities to charge top-dollar tuition for sub-par education. Those of us in the class of 2016 completely fell for it. But we shouldn’t feel bad. We’re only one class of many that have contributed to the existence of this system. We should, however, be aware of our falsely inflated ego.

Many of us feel superior to the electrician or plumber for no other reason than that we have obtained a framed piece of paper that represents a constant stream of marginal academic effort — and we shouldn’t.

If current economic conditions are any indication, tradespeople will have a higher quality of life than most of us. Additionally, most of them were smart enough to recognize their talents and enter the workforce accordingly. The same cannot be said for many of this year’s graduates.

We, the class of 2016, should brace for impact. With 40 per cent of fresh graduates being over-qualified for the jobs they possess, along with a sizeable proportion of alumni remaining unemployed, prospects look grim.

For those who manage to successfully scale the mountain in the midst of an avalanche, you’ll probably realize that your university education had very little to do with your success. You likely already have all the necessary characteristics to succeed — intelligence, tenacity and ambition.

So, class of 2016, I wish you the very best. While I wish I could say that we’ll see each other on Bay Street in Toronto, it’s more likely that we’ll bump into each other in line at the soup kitchen. Oh well — I hope they have chicken noodle.

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Kevin Paul McCaughey

Graphic: Lesia Karalash / Graphics Editor